The Evolution of LGBTI+ Advocacy and Its Political Cost

In May 1988, over 20,000 people gathered outside Manchester Town Hall in the UK, chanting against Section 28, a Thatcher law banning the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools. Lesbian activists abseiled into Parliament to protest, embodying the defiant, outsider spirit of LGBTI+ activism. This grassroots rebellion, driven by communities without a voice and while remaining excluded from political power, defined queer strongest advocacy in the 1980s and 1990s.

The 1980s and 1990s saw the rise of numerous LGBTI+ youth movements and organisations, including youth centres, high school gay–straight alliances (GSAs—particularly prominent in the US and Canada), and youth-led activism such as the National Day of Silence. 

As was the case for other facets of the civil rights movement, universities and colleges also emerged as key sites of mobilisation, with many establishing dedicated LGBTI+ centres to support student organising and community-building efforts. At the time, it became clear that in order for our movement to gain visibility, building broad social support was essential to accessing political influence. These developments made it increasingly difficult for political systems to ignore—or undermine— LGBTI+ voices. 

The political cost of silence or opposition had shifted: it now fell on those who refused to listen.

Fast forward to 2025.

While we look back for inspiration of how far we have come, today’s landscape has shifted dramatically. In many countries, our advocacy has moved from street protests to the corridors of power—securing landmark victories such as marriage equality and anti-discrimination laws. Twenty years ago, gaining access to policymaking spaces was rightly seen as a major triumph by those who had fought for visibility and recognition. But this work and how we measure our impact has grown more complex over time.

As LGBTI+ rights became integrated in the institutional fabric, these hard-won battles were weaponised and reframed by oppositional forces to place our movement- which has historically always operated on the margins-  as being aligned with systemic elites. This perception, combined with growing economic insecurity, and deepening inequalities, created fertile ground for far-right actors to weaponise our identities and our communities, framing LGBTI+ rights not as a collective social cause, but as an elite imposition. 

Understanding our evolution, from grassroots defiance to institutional integration, can help us better understand how progress has reshaped our movement, while creating space for reactionary narratives to flourish. It’s worth remembering that the backlash we face today is not because we were on the wrong side of history – but because history itself reflects the balance of forces at any given time, and right now homophobic forces are gaining ground because they have become more organised and better resourced than ever.

The Outsider Era: Grassroots Defiance in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s

Homosexuality in the UK had been partially decriminalised in 1967, but laws like Section 28 in 1988, reinforced stigma by silencing queer voices in public life. Probably that explains why in the 1980s, LGBTI+ activism in the UK functioned largely as a countercultural force, operating outside a hostile political system rather than seeking to do politics from within. Groups like the Lesbian and Gay Switchboard and OutRage! rejected assimilation, relying on protests and grassroots community spaces—bars, bookshops, and support groups—to demand visibility and dignity. The 1988 protest in Manchester, organised by activists such as Lisa Power, drew thousands to rally against the chilling effect of Section 28, with banners defiantly proclaiming “Never Going Underground.” This outsider approach built power through public support rather than institutional access.

The HIV/AIDS crisis further solidified this mode of activism. ACT UP London, founded in 1989, used direct action—such as disrupting government health conferences—to demand urgent responses to the epidemic. Their 1990 campaign succeeded in pressuring the NHS to expand access to AZT, a critical HIV treatment, demonstrating the power of grassroots mobilisation. Meanwhile, by the mid-1990s, groups like the Transsexual Menace were staging bold protests against transphobic violence and exclusion, occupying public spaces to assert their rights. 

These movements thrived outside traditional institutions, forging coalitions among marginalised and working-class communities (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM), founded in London in July 1984), igniting public debate, and making themselves heard in a system that sought to silence them. Organisations like STOPAIDS, as well as many LGBTI+ groups within the broader labour movement are carrying forward this proud legacy and continue the vital work within communities today.

Mainstreaming Rights: Integration and Institutionalization

Over the past 20 years—particularly in countries that have passed progressive reforms— aspects of LGBTI+ advocacy, including our own work, has shifted from the streets to parliaments and government departments. Legal victories have marked this transition. In the UK, the repeal of Section 28 in 2003 and the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act in 2013 reflected the growing influence of advocacy within legislative systems. Across Europe, countries like Spain and Portugal integrated LGBTI+ protections into national policy, while others funded inclusion programmes or appointed LGBTI+ rights envoys.

Kaleidoscope Trust has been instrumental in helping change happen. In 2011, then-Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Kaleidoscope Trust’s mission​​, stating that he wanted Britain to be “a global beacon for reform”. A few years later, during CHOGM 2018, it was Kaleidoscope Trust’s work which persuaded then Prime Minister Theresa May to express “deep regret” for colonial-era laws that criminalise LGBTI+ people. But it’s not only about statements. Kaleidoscope Trust’s vital support in running the Secretariat of the APPG on Global LGBT+ Rights has been instrumental in mainstreaming gender equality and amplifying global LGBTI+ voices within Whitehall.

The £40 million announced by the UK Government in 2023 to support and protect LGBTI+ rights globally was a testament to the hard work of the global movement and the recognition it has earned.

And let’s be clear, mainstreaming advocacy into policymaking spaces was, and still is, effective. Being at the centre of decision-making to ensure no one is left behind has always been a vital goal. It’s in part because of those efforts that the global LGBTI+ movement delivered real, tangible gains: over the last century, 127 countries have decriminalised homosexuality. 

However, while effective, this approach has often shifted the centre of gravity away from the spaces where values are formed and social norms are shaped. This risks reframing rights as institutional interventions rather than the outcome of collective, community-driven struggles for justice and equality.

The Far-Right Backlash: LGBTI+ Rights as an Agenda rather than a Cause

This institutional integration, while vital, has opened the door to the  perpetuation of far-right narratives, which portray LGBTI+ rights as an agenda divorced from social justice and driven by the privileged in society. This shift has allowed populist forces to frame these rights as a top-down “agenda” rather than a human struggle for social justice emerging from within communities themselves.

As in other parts of the world, in the UK, this is evident in campaigns against trans rights. In previous years, anti-trans groups have gained airtime by arguing that LGBTI+ policies are imposed by metropolitan elites. Globally, this narrative also resonates in places like Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 2021 ban on LGBTI+ content in schools framed these rights as a Western elite imposition undermining national values. In Poland, “LGBT-free zones” declared by local governments in 2019 echoed this rhetoric, portraying queer rights as a foreign agenda. Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, which imposes severe criminal penalties—including the death penalty—was similarly justified by political leaders as resisting Western pressure, further entrenching the false narrative that LGBTI+ rights are externally imposed rather than rooted in universal human rights.

This framing seeks to reinforce the perception that activating institutions to do the right thing and mainstream equality is typically associated with rainbow-branded government campaigns, and therefore it lacks the social appeal that the LGBTI+ movement had in the 1970s and 1980s.

But the far-right has shown itself to be highly adaptable and capable of weaponising any issue to serve its strategy. For instance, the backlash can also include forms of homonationalism, where far-right actors co-opt LGBTI+ rights to justify the exclusion of other minorities. In the Netherlands, racist figures like Geert Wilders have championed queer rights as a symbol of Dutch cultural superiority, using them to vilify Muslim immigrants. This cynical appropriation alienates LGBTI+ communities—especially those at the intersections of race, class, or migration—and reinforces the far-right narrative that these rights are not about social justice, but elite interests.

Balancing Progress and Perception

Mainstreaming has achieved undeniable progress, from decriminalisation to workplace protections and more inclusive foreign policy. Yet, we are at a point where the global movement needs to ensure  we centre the communities in which this progress first grew and work actively to protect and rebuild broad-based social support. Defending human rights in the face of growing repression should be the shared mission of a broad alliance of social forces rather than the work of a few charities or individuals. The far right’s narrative thrives on disconnection. To challenge this, advocacy must always find ways to reconnect with its foundations, while defending our institutional progress.

Reclaiming the Social Cause

In the UK, the journey from Manchester’s 1988 protests to Whitehall’s equality policies reflects the LGBTI+ movement’s amazing evolution. This evolution shows how outsider energy and pressure paved the way to institutional triumphs. To reclaim its soul, the movement must combine policy changes and reforms with community energy, ensuring queer voices—not just government mandates—drive the fight.

Because even in the UK, where progress has long been celebrated, LGBTI+ rights are under threat. Here, people are rediscovering the urgency of protest. The largest-ever London Trans+ Pride is a powerful reminder that movements are built in the streets, communities, and everyday acts of resistance. Whether through protest, community organising, or quiet advocacy, every approach plays a vital role in shifting the tide. We all have a part to play.  While the road to justice may differ for each of us, it is only together, using every tool at our disposal, that we can secure a future where equality is not just promised, but delivered.